Free 2 play idea and question.
I played this a while back(nearer when it first started) but lost my account at some point from changing email services etc. coming back in and I would love to play this casually but I cannot do so with a 15 dollar sub.
How likely is this to be f2p. <- The question.
The idea:
1. What if they dropped the monthly cost and made the first character completely free and unrestricted. (second character on cost 1$ or more a month. Maybe increase to $1.50 or $2.00 if anything at all.)
2 Avoid the cash grab items unless it is done very nicely and very fairly. Not something necessarily with important items(or make them rare)but with nice stuff in it. Stuff that can be traded etc also so it can do the rounds and be rare if needed. No account bounds if possible.(depending on what fits the current game infrastructure of course.) Another point for this type of thing would be to, like the below ideas, make them completely findable or buyable so a person can choose to do either method. Obviously the ingame could be harder to find potentially. But that could be crafted to the game environment. And something you could potentially build a character for for profit.
3. Any other items that are for sale make them things you can work for or buy to speed things up. If there is any competitive link items(PVP) in the game make sure those are done differently or not at all through pay to play so you cannot get to much of a head start. Unless of course that is not an issue for the game design or player base. If they like a challenge enough maybe it's not.
Would anyone else want this. I"m not sure enough of all of the stuff in the game anymore. And I'm sure they added a lot. But I'm sure there are lots of places where they could add a side dollar amount and a way to buy the items on the side. Preferably that don't impact the game or current teamwork stuff disproportionately. As an example things like greens for your chocobos that you can dig up or hunt for or buy if you want a small supply on the side. Price could help dictate amount of buys so if it has a community of hunters they can still do so and sell on the market without impact. But make it convenience buys with no side issues for the community. As another idea stuff for your house or for plants etc that are side stuff in the game you could charge a few bucks for some basic or advanced supplies etc.
Anyone like the idea? Basically replace the 12 dollar sub with optional back charges for stuff already in the game nobody would object to. Then let anyone play free unrestricted with one character and make/keep it relatively cheap to add others.
Heck they could even keep an optional sub at graded prices with xp bonuses or something. Or better chances at finding items. Say a 5$ sub with one extra free slot and 5% xp bonus or item find bonus.(good if it applies to group fights!! ;p). 10$ Bonus with free extra character and 10% bonus to exp and 5% to item find or something. 15$ sub for 15%exp 10% item find bonus and 5% better chance at chocobo breeding or better something. <- These are just examples. You get the idea. Replace those with anything you can think of that fit the game.. Obviously you may only need or allow up to a certain added amount of free exp or item find per group(15-30%) making subscribers good for the group also! 8) And good for money making setups on the market! ;p Or whatever works. Gold/currency find bonuses for fights could also apply etc.Edit: extra bonus could be an extra guess or 2 on locked chests!(graded based on cost potentially) An uber thing for newbies and potentially others. It could be a massive sub bonus. This is assuming it's not cutting into a rogues abilities or something or that it matters.
Extra Optional: Eve style pay to play options in game!! Say you take(minimum) The free character slot costs and any sub time per month. Turn it into an item and allow players to buy them with real money and sell them as slips to sell on the game market. Then you can pay in game money to buy the type of sub without having to buy them yourself. Even more versatility for players. Then if people want or can they can open new or reopen old characters slots or pay month to month with the bonuses they want. The obvious benefit of that system is those are paid for items and cannot get in the system without financing it. so if you buy it on market someone paid for it for you to trade. Then any in game account buyable item could be sold on market for everyone to potentially buy. Including the exp bonuses etc for larger subs. And they could possibly be piled up like Eve to play ahead of time for whatever your preferences are.
To do this you just put a thing in the window you normally sub for and allow someone to buy more than one and mark them as tradable item version and have them turned into an ingame item. It goes into your character inventory and you sell it on market. Even give them a cool name like "Marque de Something."
BTW, my take on the point of F2P is that we should treat game like novels. You should be able to absolutely always be able to see the entire thing before every buying the game or book. then you only buy based on what you really like and have a proper open market. If the game is good it should always be able to finance itself without hiding the product before buying. If not it should spur on the appropriate creativity and work to make it more interesting. Hopefully not in a way oriented on just making money as that does not go very far as far as good game development. But actually trying new fun things and making the game as good as possible.
I'm forgetting this should also replace the cost to buy the game. Or the buying of the game could be optional as provide free items or something or an extra bonus or set of bonuses for a year or whatnot. It could also become a buyable item in game. It could also have the option of having a hard copy sent to you via mail if desired. Or a version of it. Maybe a 30 dollar yearly game buy could top of the solo bonus for a max subber or two max subbers for group content or something. Something related to optional in game group bonuses and content. Then, again, you can let subbers and buyers be more useful to those around them.
But, all in all, these ideas should all fit directly in the current game or projected game design. Like a glove if you will, so the game is a means in itself to make money. But while still being oriented totally on the game play itself and not changing much or anything for the player in any way that reduces the game experience. As opposed to xp bonuses that potentially pay to enhance yours and others for example.